My Credo

I consider myself a Christian, a product of the Protestant
Reformation. I agree with most of the Westminster
Confession of Faith (1647). I've never met anyone who agrees
with everything it says. How much agreement is
necessary to be "truly reformed?" My credo probably
tests the limits. For all intents and purposes, the Protestant
Reformation is dead. I believe it had tremendous good effects, but
it is no longer "the salt of the earth." Less than one
person in a thousand could say anything meaningful about John
Calvin or Martin Luther and their contributions
to Western Civilization. We're in a new "dark ages."
I believe it's time for another Reformation.

And
He will judge
between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer theirswords
into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword
against nation
And never again will they train
for war.

And each of them will sit
under his
Vine andunder hisfig tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.

Micah's vision animated America's
Founding Fathers. It must do so again. In the 20th century,
secular empires have murdered an average of 10,000 people per day,
every single day during the last century. In America, an
additional 4,000 babies are killed every day, many times more in
China and the "former"
Soviet Union. Literally billions of people in our day are
separated from the Gospel by tyrannical atheistic or Muslim
governments. Christians are anesthetized by complacency and
self-indulgence.

Despite the obvious need for a new Reformation, I am sometimes
asked about my conformity to the tenets of the old Reformation.
What follows is a short summary of each chapter of the Westminster
Confession of Faith (1647) with appropriate links to my
webpages below. But first, here is an outline of my most obvious
agreements and disagreements, with links to the Extended
Discussion below:

I do not believe that Sunday is "the
Sabbath." Seems to me that it should still be the seventh
day. The eighth-day/first-day is the day of Resurrection, but
not rest. But I do not know for sure if we are
today required to observe one day of rest out of seven,
whichever day that is, or whether we are in a perpetual sabbath
rest.

Because I believe an oath must be made in the
name of the Lord and cannot be "secular," the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals denied me a license to practice law in
California, which now requires a secular oath. Details
here.

This is unquestionably one of the most
controversial parts of "my credo." I believe
socialism in all forms is immoral. I am very consistent in my
opposition to socialism and defense of capitalism. This offends
many people, who believe "the State" has the right to
steal from Jones to give a subsidy to Smith, or to bomb a
country "back to the Stone Age" in order to help XYZ
Corporation build an oil pipeline. Most people will write me
off as an "anarchist"
without reading the links below.

I do not believe in anything that resembles the
Roman Catholic Church. In my opinion most "reformed
churches" are essentially Roman.

Given the irrelevance of the Confession in light of
contemporary statism and mass murder (chap. 23),
it is remarkable that the rest of the Confession -- 25% of the
total chapters -- deals with ecclesiastical concerns.

For all intents and purposes I am a
"preterist."
I think the prooftexts used by the Westminster Confession apply
to events in AD70. I simply don't know what exactly will happen
to any individual upon death. It doesn't matter to me, as I
believe God is more merciful and more just than I can imagine.
I am confident no alleged prophetic events (rapture, second
coming, etc.) will happen in my lifetime. I believe it would be
sinful to act
as though "the second coming" had not already
occurred.

Quite candidly there are many parts of the Westminster
Standards that I think are more important than many chapters of
the Confession itself. The Confession's latter chapters on
ecclesiology and eschatology are defective, and the chapters on
the "ordo salutis," while correct, are not as relevant
in the 21st century as, say, the
exposition of the Ten Commandments in the Larger Catechism,
particularly the political application of the Sixth
and Eighth
Commandments. Much eschatological confusion could be clarified by
ridding Christendom of the anti-christ doctrine of Christ's
postponed Kingship as discussed in qq. 42-45 of the Larger
Catechism.

I would also add that I feel the
Anabaptists were more consistent reformers (and therefore less
Romanist) than the "magisterial reformers."

A Chapter by Chapter Summary of the Primary
Teachings of the Westminster Confession of Faith

Prepared by James E. Bordwine, Th.D.

I will
check this column if I am in basic agreement with the
Confession.

I will explain my convictions and admit my differences in
this column. Parts of the Confession that I question are in
yellow. Parts that I'm sure I disagree with are in red.

3. The Scripture's infallible authority depends
solely upon the fact that God is its author, and only as the
Holy Spirit bears witness by and with the Word in our hearts
will we become fully persuaded of this truth.

1. Although God has unchangeably foreordained
whatsoever comes to pass and has predestinated some men and
angels unto everlasting life and others to everlasting death,
He has done so without becoming the author of sin or doing
violence to the will of His creatures.

2. Those of mankind whom God has predestinated
unto life have been chosen in Christ and are effectually
called by His Spirit, are justified, adopted, sanctified and
kept by His power; the rest of mankind, from whom God has
withheld His mercy, have been ordained to dishonor and wrath
for their sin.

1. The providence of God, whereby he governs
all creatures and actions, extends to the first fall and all
other sins of angels and men so that His own holy ends are
accomplished; yet He is neither the author nor approver of
sin.

2. Because they were the root of all mankind,
the guilt of this sin was imputed to all their posterity,
along with the corruption of their nature from which proceeds
all the sins which we commit.

3. This corruption of nature,
though pardoned and mortified through Christ, remains in the
regenerate in this life.

Can
a Christian be Perfect?
The Confession wants to distance itself from certain groups
who have claimed to be sinless. These groups have not been
sinless, and they have fudged on the requirements of God's
Law in order to make their claim. But this does not prove
anything about the new natureof the redeemed.

1. The Mediator, in which are joined the
Godhead and the manhood, was chosen and ordained by God and
does, in time, redeem, call, justify, sanctify and glorify the
seed given to Him from all eternity.

2. The Son of God, who was God, of one
substance and equal with the Father, did take upon Him the
nature of man with all of its essential properties and
infirmities, yet without sin, being conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary.

3. In His role as Mediator, the Lord Jesus
perfectly fulfilled the law, triumphed over death by His
resurrection, fully satisfied the justice of His Father and
purchased reconciliation and an everlasting inheritance for
all those whom the Father has given to Him.

4. All of those for whom redemption was
purchased, including the elect who lived before the
incarnation, have its benefits applied to them by Christ
working through His Word and Spirit.

2. This process is incomplete in this life and
remnants of sin remain; nevertheless, the working of the
Spirit of Christ enables the regenerate to overcome and
experience growth in his pursuit of holiness.

1. The law given to Adam, by which he and his
posterity were bound to absolute obedience, continued to be a
perfect rule of righteousness even after the fall and was
delivered by God in the form of the ten commandments.

1. The only acceptable way of worshiping God is
that given in the Scriptures and requires the mediation of
Christ.

2. The ordinary parts of worship include
prayer, the reading of the Scriptures, the sound preaching and
conscionable hearing of the Word, the singing of psalms and
the proper administration of the sacraments (to these may be
added oaths, vows, fastings and thanksgivings upon special
occasions).

3. According to the
commandment of God, which binds all men in all ages, one day
in seven is to be kept holy unto Him during which men are to
engage in the worship of God and the performance of deeds of
necessity and mercy.

I realize that this position sounds nutty for
a Christian. But nowhere
in the Bible does God command human beings to form
"the State," and everything
"the State" does is a violation of God's Law. There
is no legitimate function of "the civil magistrate"
which God prohibits "the
Free Market" from undertaking. It's time for a paradigm
shift.

Those three links contain links to hundreds of webpages.
This is, in my view, the most significant issue of our day.
The issue is capitalism
vs. socialism, life or death.

2. Although civil magistrates are forbidden to
encroach upon the authority of the Church, they are obligated
to protect the Church so that she may freely discharge her
duties, without giving preference to any particular
denomination of Christians.

3. The people are obligated to pray for and
obey the magistrates regardless of the magistrates' religious
orientation.

1. The invisible Church is
composed of the whole number of the elect; the visible Church
is composed of all those who profess the true religion, along
with their children.

2. It is the duty of the
visible Church to gather and perfect the saints.

3. The purity of particular
Churches is determined by the manner in which they handle the
Gospel, administer the sacraments and perform public worship.

4. Jesus Christ is the alone
head of the Church.

I disagree with nothing thus
far stated (in the summary at left), but our meanings diverge
significantly. I am for all intents and purposes "anti-church."

{6}Nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head
thereof: but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of
perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against
Christ and all that is called God.[o]

[o] Matt 23:8-10; 2 Thess. 2:3,4,8-9; Rev. 13:6

As we enter the 21st century, we
recognize that this teaching of the confession is utterly
wrong. The "orthodox" position in "reconstructionist"
circles is the preterist interpretation.

1. Through the sacrament of
baptism, which signifies the engrafting of the believer into
Christ, and which is rightly administered by the pouring or
sprinkling of water, the party is admitted into the visible
Church.

2. All who profess faith in
Christ, and their infant children, are to be baptized.

Paedobaptism is more Biblical
than professors'-only baptism.

3. Even though grace and
salvation are not inseparably attached to the sacrament of
baptism nor to the moment of its administration, that which is
signified will be conferred by the Holy Spirit to all to whom
it is due at the appointed time.

1. Synods and councils ought
to be convened occasionally as the good of the Church requires.

2. The determinations of
synods and councils, which are ecclesiastical in nature, ought
to be received as long as they are in agreement with the Word
of God; however, it should be remembered that all such
assemblies are subject to error.